Gus Poyet has branded the ban and fine imposed on Liverpool's Luis Suárez as "incredible" and says he backs his fellow Uruguayan "to the death".

Suárez, banned for eight games and fined £40,000 by an FA independent regulatory commission for racially abusing Patrice Evra, is expected to appeal against the punishment. His defence remains that he was unaware that language acceptable in his country was viewed as racist in Europe.

Poyet, manager of Brighton, agreed that Suárez has suffered from cultural differences between England and Uruguay – and stated that in the South American country people were referred to as "blacks" in an affectionate way. He also attacked Evra, saying the French player was "no saint".

Poyet told the Uruguayan newspaper Ultimas Noticias: "The ban is incredible, shocking, disproportionate. I back Luis to death. Things have happened before with Evra. He is not a saint. He is a controversial player.

"I don't know in which world we are going to live from now on. People will accuse each other of anything. Suárez just arrived [in the Premier League] and there are things that he has to learn when you are in another country because they might be normal in your country but perhaps they are not considered that way in other parts of the world.

"I have tried to explain that we live with coloured people in Uruguay. We share different experiences with them. We play football, we share parties. We are born, we grow up and we die with them. We call them 'blacks' in a natural way, even in an affectionate way. That is the way we were brought up. We are integrated and there are no problems from either side.

"I've explained how the Uruguay people and the South Americans experience these situations with coloured people. I've been many years in England and I understand them. I know how to deal with it, but Luis has only recently arrived here."

Uruguay's national director of sports, Ernesto Irureta, called the ban "exaggerated, absurd and out of place", while Uruguay's head coach, Oscar Tabárez, said he would continue to support Suárez. "He has our full support and solidarity because seen from a distance this seems like an excessive punishment."